Detroit Lions stuck in the middle of NFC North, Pat Caputo says

Detroit Lions NFL football quarterback Matthew Stafford prepares to run a play during the team's organized team activities at the Lions training camp facility in Allen Park, Mich., Wednesday, May 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The opening over-and-under odds from Las Vegas for projected Lions’ victories this season is 8.5.

It means they aren’t expected to be that bad in 2014, nor that good, that they are one of many NFL teams that could go either way.

The odds of the Lions winning the NFL North are 17-to-4. Green Bay is the overwhelming favorite to capture the division. They are listed at 4-to-5. The over-and-under for Green Bay victories is 10.5. Chicago’s over-and-under for wins is also 8.5, but the Bears are listed as having better odds of winning the division, at 11-to-4, than the Lions.

Considering the Lions have had only one winning season since 2000, and won just four and seven games, respectively, the last two seasons, they are not being slighted.

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The odds-makers are projecting the Minnesota Vikings as a distant fourth. The Vikings have a great running back in Adrian Peterson and won 15 games combined in 2013 and 2014, three more than the Lions.

OK, so it isn’t 2009 and a total rebuilding mode for the Lions. They feature such high-end talent as Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh, Reggie Bush, Matthew Stafford, DeAndre Levy and Stephen Tulloch.

The Lions have a chance. They are one of the NFL’s many “bubble” teams.

Problem is, the bubble has mostly burst in the past. Will it happen again?

There were many disappointments the 2013 season presented for the Lions. Perhaps the worst was the Lions’ inability to kick the Packers and Bears when they down, and capture the NFC North – and get that elusive home playoff game.

Green Bay lost quarterback Aaron Rodgers late in the season and backup Matt Flynn was ineffective. Chicago QB Jay Cutler was injured, and sometimes played hurt when he probably should not have.

In the end, it was Green Bay which won the division, with a mediocre 8-7-1 record. The Lions, who had been in the driver’s seat with a 6-3 mark, lost six of their last seven games to finish 7-9.

It was more evidence that winning breeds winning in the NFL.

Who doesn’t believe in the Packers? It’s an organization that has won four Super Bowls, in addition to owning the NFL North most years. Rodgers is arguably the best QB in the NFL. He has a Super Bowl ring and NFL MVP Award to prove it.

The Bears have their issues closing, but have usually been in contention in recent years. They have outstanding receivers in Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall, and a top running back in Matt Forte. Although erratic, Cutler is gifted. The Bears traditionally have a strong defense.

But the Lions, after going 0-6 vs. the NFC North in 2012, won four their first five games against division teams in ’13 before losing the meaningless season finale at Minnesota.

It’s unlikely the Lions can reach the playoffs with an 8-8 mark, and 9-7 doesn’t guarantee anything.

Six of their games are against the NFC North. Posting a winning record in the division is imperative.

But there is a discomforting twist this year. The Lions last three games are vs. their NFC North foes – at home vs Minnesota, and then back-to-back road games at Chicago and Green Bay.

This is a scenario that is very difficult to envision coming out well for the Lions.

A road trip to Green Bay in the dead of winter, the tundra at Lambeau Field as frozen as it gets, with everything on the line - and the Lions winning?

The Lions haven’t won in Green Bay since 1991. It was December. The temperature was 10 degrees that day, with a slight, very chilly breeze. The final score was 21-17. It was the one year the Lions did advance to the NFC Championship game, before getting drilled by the eventual Super champion Washington Redskins.

Of course, that was the very best of the Lions’ teams since the 1950s. It was one of the Packers’ worst, the final year before Brett Favre arrived, and then followed by Rodgers. The Packers were 3-12-1 that season – and the Lions’ very best barely beat them in December at Lambeau.

It’s the curse of being in the NFC North for the Lions.

And it’s as if the schedule-maker was particularly cruel about it this year.

About the Author

Pat Caputo has written as a beat writer and sports columnist for The Oakland Press since 1984 and blogs at http://patcaputo.blogspot.com/. Reach the author at pat.caputo@oakpress.com
or follow Pat on Twitter: @PatCaputo98.